Dale Miller

I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home because I needed a couple of things, and I thought I could pick up a new starter rope for the lawnmower while I was there. Of course, they didn’t have what I was looking for, so I wandered back to hardware to find rope. I thought the 1/4″ rope looked too frail, so I bought the 3/16″, thinking that I could always come back tomorrow if it was too large. I cam home and tore down the mower to discover that yes, 3/16″ was too large. But having things apart and already being dirty I didn’t want to leave it. I dug around and found the rope that I broke off my old mower last year. It was still long enough that it could start a mower if I reattached it. So, I now have a mower with another old, worn starter cord that will probably break again soon. But I mowed the yard. :)

So far my work week has been uneventful. I spent most of yesterday downtown at a seminar and then came into the office long enough to wire up a temporary power connection for our new Cisco 6500 so Tim could start working on it while we wait for Physical Plant to actually install the correct power connections. Today I worked on backups, rearranged some gear in one of the communications racks, and messed a bit with Banner job submission on Tru64. Nothing exciting, but something worthwhile to keep me busy.

I am on another diet. I weighed in at 185 over the weekend. My jeans don’t fit anymore, and my thighs rub together when I walk. I am not going to go off my diet this time. I will lose weight. How many times have I said that recently? Too many. I did well today. I went to water exercise and consumed a 6″ Subway Club. That’s a little more than I had planned to eat, but still not too bad. The goal is to consume less than I burn. I think I managed that.

I knew I should have tried to mow the yard yesterday. I finally convinced myself to do so today, and broke the starter rope on the first pull. I need to mow, but not badly enough to justify getting dressed and driving 60 miles (round trip) to buy a new rope. Naturally, I can’t find anything suitable around the house. That would be far too easy.

Replace "Marten Reed" with "Dale Miller"

I managed to do a little free-lance programming today. I was contacted by a friend (Angie) who said that she was contacted by the owner of a new fitness salon who needed some programming done. I agreed to write the program, and was going to have Angie go and install it since it was in her part of the state. Uh-oh, change of plans. It seems the salon was actually in Ft. Smith, not Bentonville. Since I had free time, and stood to make the most money from it, I decided to drive to Ft. Smith to make things work. It was a reasonably enjoyable trip. I took the Interstate up there, but decided to dawdle along Arkansas 10 on the way back. I had never been over the western end before (I usually take 22 if I’m in the mood for 2-lane). There is some very pretty country there, and a number of sad small towns. There are those who say that Wal-Mart is killing small towns. While I’m sure it has contributed to their death, it’s not alone. I remember as a child passing through towns and wanting to stop at the “Dairy Bar”, or its equivalent. I also used to love going to Wiggins Hardware in Paris, AR. I noticed today driving through Booneville that you have a choice of Sonic or Hardees. There’s so little individuality anymore. I know it’s a matter of economics. The mom-and-pop stores simply can’t compete with chains. Now it seems that in the smallest towns even the chains are closing, and leaving the main street nothing but boarded-up storefronts. Not all is lost, however, I did have an ice cream cone at the Ola Dairy Bar. :) I may have to drive back up there just to give them my business.

It’s a little sad that this is “The” Houston store. What’s worse is that it’s closed. As far as I can tell, there
is no remaining retail in the town of Houston.
(Houston)

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I’m not sure what all is available through this entrance. :) I did have the lunch buffet, however, and it was acceptible.
(Ft. Smith)

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This is a sideline of the gentleman for whom I wrote a program. I just have a strange mental image of “null
photography”. Is that photography that didn’t happen?
(Ft. Smith)

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When I saw this sign I had to stop. This is apparently a perpetual yard sale (actually, in an outbuilding). I
picked up a Sunbeam model W-1 waffle iron for $1.00!! I also grabbed a dozen assorted radio tubes for $1.00. I have
no idea what shape they are in, but for that price if even one works it’s well worth it.

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I want to know just what a “Primitive” Baptist church is. How does it differ from a “General” Baptist church or a
“Free Will” Baptist church? I know what “Southern” and “Missionary” Baptist are, but the others are still foreign to
me.
(Between Danville and Ola)

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I wonder how the people of Belleville (Pop. 371) feel about the folks five miles down the road who think their town
is vile. :) I just love the Arkansas Highway Department.

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Another fun thing for people who are trying to make sure they are still on the right road — let’s put names on the
highway but not put them on the map. (FYI: Homewood is on Ark. 10, and Oak Grove is on Ark. 300)

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When seen still and head-on, this sign is fairly easy to read, but driving past on the highway, I just knew
that it said “Western Hell”. Think about fonts, people.
(Havana, I think)

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Speaking of fonts… And I’m still trying to figure out just exactly how that name was derived.
(Belleville)

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You don’t have to guess whether you are going to a trendy salon. We’ll tell you! (Notice the parking sign says
“Trendy’s”).
(Danville)

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Who decides the name of high school mascots? And why would they pick the “Little Johns”?
(Danville)

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I saved the best for last. There are people who believe everyone in Arkansas lives in a trailer with a junker car in
the front yard. While it’s not true for all, it’s certainly true for some.
(SR300, beside Harris Brake Lake)

My clock radio works!

Since I was home this afternoon, and feeling a bit better, I decided to tackle a project I had been saving for the weekend. A few weeks ago I purchased a non-working clock radio from an antique mall in Little Rock. I knew it had at least one bad tube, but hadn’t tracked down which one, since I didn’t have a replacement source. This last weekend I was looking around a resale shop in Benton and found another All-American Five for $10.00. Since it didn’t work either, I thought the price a little high, but others (working) were quite a bit more expensive. It’s really a nicer radio than my little GE, but doesn’t have a clock. Anyway, I started switching out tubes and found that my original had a bad 35W4. Fortunately, the bad tube in the “new” radio was not the same one. The problem with troubleshooting these radios is that all the tube heaters are wired in series, so if one burns out they all go dark. But now I can be awakened by the sounds of an AM radio warming up and serenading me with whatever I can find on the air at that time of the morning. :)

Oh, the tube that I used to fix my set had a manufacture date of 4/52. I love working with electronics older than I am. :)

The circuit card in the GE:

The Emerson I cannibalized — I need to clean it up and search for more tubes.

And the re-assembled and working GE.

I spent my day at work yesterday disposing of old computer hardware. Since UALR is a state school, we can’t just throw things away of give them away. They must all be sent to Arkansas State Marketing and Redistribution. Unfortunately, the process for doing so on our campus has not gone well over the last few years. Things we have been trying to get rid of for 6 years or more were still sitting in closets. We finally managed to convince physical plant to come pick everything up. We had some 400 things, ranging in size from an external hard drive chassis to a VAX 7800 (6-foot tall cabinet about 3 feet square).

Apparently as a result of stirring up significant dust yesterday, my sinuses are seriously clogged today. I didn’t sleep well last night due to Belle wanting to snuggle a bit too forcefully. I eventually gave up, sent a notice to the office that I wasn’t coming in, took some antihistamines, evicted all the cats from the bedroom, closed the door and went back to sleep. Drugs and sleep can sometimes do wonderful things for a person. :) I probably should go into the office for the afternoon and conserve my sick leave, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to do so.

Oh yeah. I finished off my day yesterday with a dentist’s appointment. I need another crown. Joy, Joy.

When a major event occurs, you often hear people years later say “I know just where I was when {insert event here} happened.” There are very few such events in my life. One in particular, however, is clear in my mind. I know exactly what I was doing thirty-five years ago tonight. I was sitting in the kitchen of my parents home with my eyes glued to our black and white television. The good color set in the den had decided to quit working, and the venerable b&w was the only other one we had. I, and most everyone else in the country, watched as Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. There are few things that have made quite that much impact on me. It was an accomplishment that the country, and indeed the world, could be proud of. I just knew that it was going to usher in the space age that had been predicted. Before long we would have space stations, regular earth-to-orbit runs, and by the time I grew up and got married I would be able to take my honeymoon on the moon. Alas, it didn’t work out that way. It seems that more mundane concerns were more important than conquering space. Here we sit, 35 years later, and we haven’t been anywhere further than the moon. and we don’t even have the technology in place to go back there again. For all our advances in electronics and computers, we have never topped that one crowning moment.

I’m disappointed in us, in all of us, for not persuing space exploration. It seems fairly certain now that I’ll never get my chance to go into orbit. No airlines will have scheduled flights to a spinning space hotel within my lifetime. It seems such a shame.

But I can say that I know where I was, thirty-five years ago, when Neil Armstrong took one giant leap for mankind.

LiveJournal Trading Cards Paid Account Edition skirtman User Number: 1112060 Date Created:06-11-2003 Number of Posts: 410 Dale has no idea why he exists. Maybe it’s only to provide an example for mothers to point out with the admonishment “Eat all your peas or you’ll turn out like him!” Strengths: Friendly, caring, honest, dependable, gainfully employed, nice legs Weaknesses: Socially inept, lonely, often depressed, nerd, in debt, low self-esteem, in a rut Special Skills: Able to walk in high-heels, able to make women laugh Weapons: Rapier wit (okay, not really, but it sounds good), large foam bat Motto: To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.

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Since I’m posting anyway, it’s time for another rant about some drivers. The speed limit for most of my drive home is 55 mph. Some people obey the limit, some don’t. Occasionally someone will actually drive under the limit! Imagine that! When that happens, they often back up a long line of vehicles, since there aren’t many places to pass. You would think that people who drive this stretch of road would be accustomed to this by now. When there is a slow vehicle, just drop back, take your time, and enjoy the view. There is no need to tailgate, especially if the vehicle in front of you is a motorcycle! I watched a car following directly behind a motorcycle at a distance of no more than 15 feet for several miles. If I had been the cyclist I would have pulled over and let the guy around just for safety reasons. If something had happened to slow or stop the cycle, the rider would have been seriously injured if not killed, because there’s no way the car could have stopped in time. There is simply no good reason to follow that closely.

All right, I’m done now.

My weekend was not at all exciting. I came home from work Friday and didn’t leave the house until I had to go back into work on Sunday morning. I went out to lunch at Cracker Barrel in Bryant, wandered through an antique mall, and came back home. That was pretty much the weekend. I didn’t even do much around the house other than pull some ivy that was threatening to take over one outside wall.

Today I have felt sort of disconnected. I’m a little depressed, which isn’t so unusual, but it’s something different. I have been somewhat productive at work, so that’s going okay, even if the stress level is rather high.

There are times I feel like the whole world knows things that I can’t seem to master. I’m referring, of course, to anything dealing with interpersonal relations. I wish I didn’t care so much. Then it would be easier.

While deciding if I am going to go out anywhere tonight, I started playing with clothes. I have several outfits in mind that I want to wear, and some of them just wouldn’t quite work at most restaurants.

The first is a skirted garterbelt from Victoria’s Secret that I want to wear as a skirt. Add a thong underneath, a vest on top and I’m ready to go.

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Variation on a theme. Opaque garter/skirt from Frederick’s. Since It’s red rather than pink I can add a tie and change the shoes for a bit more color.

Oh, notice that it has already turned loose on one side? The clip broke when I was putting it on. I really dislike plastic clips on garter belts. How much more would it cost to use the metal ones? So I’m going to have to fix it before I can wear it.

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This next one is also one I’ve been playing with. I’m not sure what to wear on the bottom. I think either the stockings or fishnet tights. I also think thigh-high black boots would work well. I have time on this one. It’s too hot for this time of the year anyway. I’m also wondering about the legality of wearing a uniform jacket when I’m not in the service. Since I’m obviously not trying to pass as a serviceman, I don’t *think* there is a problem, but I probably need to do some research.

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And lastly a different uniform. This one is going to take some work before I can wear it. The Girl Scouts have changed colors too many times over the years. I have two other vests. One matches the skirt but has no insignia. The other is khaki and has several badges. I’m going to have to move whatever badges I want to keep to the one that matches. I also want to shorten the skirt, but I don’t know if I should try that.